Remember what you were doing at the age of 15? Probably, busy playing at a cricket ground with your colony friends or preparing for your board exams while your parents kept telling you how it will shape your future. Just what kids would usually do. But Ahmedabad's Harshwardhan Zala is far from the usual. Known as India’s drone kid, he has already helped the Indian army and CRPF at the age of 14 to detect and defuse landmines. The boy has a handful of patents to his credit for the same.

“Do you know there are more than 100 million active landmines across the globe? My goal is to create technological solutions to save thousands of lives across the world by protecting the life of our soldiers - the ones who protect us, and this is just the beginning,” says Harshwardhan, now 16-year-old.

Son of an accountant father and homemaker mother, Harsh came up with his first invention at the age of 10. He made a remote-control which could be used to control and operate home appliances wirelessly.

It was then that Harsh began to think about his next creation. He would read books about various problems being faced by the world and visit cyber cafés to watch YouTube videos about these problems. Since he didn’t have access to the internet at home, Harsh started to spend long hours in a cyber cafe. He was often accompanied by his grandfather as Harsh was not allowed into the cafe without an adult.

One day at the cyber cafe, he came across a demonstrative video, which reflected on how people die because of explosions in undetected land mines. After doing some research and through his rare ability to think beyond self, the wonder kid found a solution to this problem. So he worked on a prototype and went to different companies to tell them about his solution.

He went to about 12 companies but was rejected by all of them which inspired Harsh to fund his own company with the money that his parents put together. After two years, the hard work finally paid off. He then signed a Rs 5 crore MoU for the same with the Indian government.

The drone goes into the field, surveys the ground and sends real-time signals to the nearest army base. It is fitted with a wireless detonator, which can be activated without risk to any human life. “I am currently working with the Indian Army and CRPF to help clear all the landmines in the country. Once that is accomplished, I will share my technology with the rest of the world,”.